Consider you just adopted two new plants: a succulent and a tropical plant. You decide to give both plants the same amount of water at the same frequency. After a few weeks, you notice your plants are struggling to thrive. The succulent is yellowed from overwatering and the tropical plant is brown and wilted from underwatering. What went wrong?
Different plants have different needs to support their growth. Like plants, human brains also have varying needs to grow. So why does our education system present the same curriculum with the same structure to different brains, and expect every learner to thrive?
This question has haunted my mind throughout my academic journey. As a disabled and neurodivergent student, navigating an education system that presents the same growing conditions for all students has been frustrating. These conditions often center non-disabled, neurotypical learners. Change to this system is critical to support the success of all learners.
Thus, I began to explore various educational frameworks that support all learners. I stumbled across the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and fell in love.
Rather than focusing on adding accommodations to the education system, the UDL removes barriers to learning (Han & Lei, 2024). It values student diversity by supporting their needs and interests in the curriculum. The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) outlines three principles for UDL (Han & Lei, 2024), which instructors can use as guidelines for their course design:
Lyd Paulsen (pronounced “lid pahl-sehn”) is a TILT Student Partner and Lead Learning Assistant for LIFE 102. They are a third year honors student at Colorado State University pursuing a major in Natural Sciences, Biology Education Concentration, and a minor in Entomology. They plan to become a high school biology teacher and continue pursuing research in Integrated Pest Management and pollinator conservation. In their free time, they enjoy writing poetry, studying music theory, roller skating, and hiking
1. Multiple Means of Engagement
- Why is this information important to the interests and identities reflected in and beyond the classroom community?
2. Multiple Means of Representation
- What are various ways educators can communicate this information (video animations with closed captions, alt-text on visuals, interactive models, seminars, clearly defined vocabulary and symbols) to build upon background knowledge and uplift the diverse ways in which people learn?
3. Multiple Means of Action and Expression
- How will learners use self-paced, challenging goals that build on their strengths as a learner to demonstrate what they learned?
- How will learners use this information to address biases and advocate for restorative practices?
Due to a lack of professional training and resources to support the UDL, one meta-analysis suggests most courses only focus on the first principle: engagement (Han & Lei, 2024). In order to effectively implement this framework, all three principles should be reflected across courses. We need to transition beyond the usual ways in which the UDL is represented at the university-level.
How do we expand beyond the UDL? A recent study not only had evolutionary biology instructors model UDL in their classroom, they also had students model the UDL in a six-week-long project (Lepore et al., 2025). The goal of this study was to determine how student knowledge of disability and support for disabled communities changed throughout this project.
Instructors engaged students in the course content through videos, podcasts, and texts. When designing this course, instructors collaborated with disabled and neurodivergent people.
For the projects, students selected a scientific journal article on a topic of interest. Then, they communicated this information through an infographic, newspaper or magazine article, podcast, or short video. What was especially interesting: their final products must be accessible using the UDL framework. Specifically, they must include alternative text on images, audio narration for texts, closed captions on videos, colorblind-friendly palettes, multiple ways to represent the content, and various spoken and signed languages. Students worked in groups to set short-term goals.
After six weeks, the researchers surveyed the students and found that 96% of students experienced an increase in their understanding of disability. Furthermore, 93% of students felt more confident in advocating for support for disabilities in their academic and professional lives (Lepore et al., 2025). Not only does effective implementation of UDL in course and assignment design support all learners, it also empowers students to carry conversations on disability justice in and beyond academic settings. The researchers report that these benefits to UDL-centered projects are not exclusive to STEM courses. Non-STEM courses also benefit from discussions of accessibility and dismantling ableism.
When implementing the UDL, inviting disabled voices into these decisions is critical to fostering a positive learning community. As someone who is disabled, I frequently remind people that we know best how educators can support us. Our voices are essential in these conversations if instructors strive to effectively support our learning.
Additionally, all students should have the opportunity to increase their understanding of disability and support for disabled people in their careers. Inclusive spaces start with education, and education should start with inclusivity.
Rather than forcing brains to adapt to the conditions instructors feel comfortable providing, instructors should adapt their teaching to support every brain. Afterall, you cannot expect all plants to thrive under the same conditions.
Resources
Han, C., & Lei, J. (2024, August 16). Teachers’ and Students’ Beliefs Towards Universal Design for Learning Framework: A Scoping Review. Sage Open, 14(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241272032
Lepore, T., Hlusko, L.J., Armstrong, L., Frank, T., Tseng, Z.J., Schmitt, C.A., Rizk, O., & Baranger, A.M. (2025, August 6). The Tangible Benefits of Disability and Accessibility Awareness in Evolutionary Biology College Courses Centered in Universal Design for Learning (UDL). CBE—Life Sciences Education, 24(3). https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.24-12-0295
The UDL Guidelines. (2024). Center for Applied Special Technology. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/